Bordentown boys' soccer comes up short

Omer Kaya (9) scored the lone goal in the loss for Bordentown.phillyburbs.com

LONG BRANCH — Sometimes there are glaring signs that it’s just not your day.

So when Bordentown — already down a pair of goals — watched Long Branch defender Elias Oliveira make a ridiculous sliding kick save to deny what looked to be a sure chip-shot goal from Omer Kaya with 13 minutes left in the first half, that was a pretty good sign that things weren’t exactly going to fall in the Scotties’ favor.

Except, head coach Mike Brennan didn’t necessarily want to look at it that way.

“I didn’t want our kids to look at it like it’s not our day,” Brennan said. “I wanted our kids to look at that and be inspired, because that was a kid who was doing every single thing he could to prolong his season.”

Not even an inspired final 40 minutes would be enough, as Long Branch scored again with six seconds left in the first half and staved off a second-half Bordentown charge to hold on for the 3-1 victory in the NJSIAA Group II Central semifinals at Long Branch High this afternoon.

Long Branch’s Jonathan DaSilva scored on a one-timer from Wilson Bonilla 17 minutes into the first half to cap what at that point was an 8-1 advantage in shots for the Green Wave. Before Bordentown could completely regroup, Samuel Hernandez found the back of the net three minutes later.

“The second one really did hurt us,” Kaya said. “That’s the reason why we couldn’t get back real quick. Our motivation just dropped.”

Kaya, Andrew Cary and Sam Okafor all registered solid scoring chances over the final 10 minutes of the first half, but Long Branch all-but-sealed their first showing in the sectional final since 1997 with Welky Galvao’s chip shot goal with just six seconds left in the half.

“It was a harsh goal to give up late,” Brennan said. “It definitely changes the way we play the second half.”

Down but not completely deterred, Kaya scored on a direct kick from 24 yards out just 4:17 into the second half to give Bordentown a glimmer of hope for the comeback.

“I put the ball down quick,” Kaya said of the direct kick. “I saw the goalie was trying to set up the wall and was on the post. I didn’t ask for 10 yet and the wall wasn’t even set. I saw the far side was open, so I hit it hard and it went in.”

The Scotties would ride the momentum into a number of other legitimate scoring chances but couldn’t get the tying goal it sought.

“What I’m extremely proud of is when we challenge our boys and have them look in the mirror and you ask them, ‘Are you giving everything you have? Are you playing as quickly as you can?’ ” Brennan said. “They really answered the call. The second half, I thought we played very, very well. I thought we had about a 20-minute stretch in the second half where Long Branch was really scrambling.

The second half took on a physical tone with neither team wanting their season to come to an end, culminating with Kaya and Long Branch’s Oliveira crashing through the scoring table on the Green Wave sideline while battling for a ball.

“I was going to the ball, and we both go to it at the same time,” Kaya said. “I was going at a fast speed, and I couldn’t stop myself, so I kind of ran him over.”

While the result Bordentown sought ultimately eluded the Scotties, it still was a marked improvement from last season.

“We had a good season, way better than last year,” Kaya said. “We really stepped our game up.”
Contact Kevin Maloney at Kevmaloney33@yahoo.com